A Brief History of Enameling

Sometime in prehistory, people discovered that a piece of glass placed atop a shiny metal looked nicer than the glass or the metal itself. The ancient Egyptians used this principle and shaped pieces of glass to glue into metal compartments to make elaborate jewelry. Eventually, it was discovered that glass would adhere to metal if it were melted onto it. The term “enameling” was eventually used to describe this process. The earliest known objects with glass fused onto metal with heat were found in a Mycenaean tomb on Cyprus and date to the 13th century, B.C.E. The glass fused to metal technique spread from Cyprus to Greece and from there to all Europe. Enameling thrived in the Byzantine Empire, in Medieval Europe, and eventually in Japan and China.

Precious metals, particularly gold, were used in the early history of enameling; enameled objects tended to be small, and transparent glasses were used to show the gold base. Copper became the most common metal base for enamel in medieval times. The easy availability of this less expensive metal encouraged the enameling of larger objects and the development of enamel wall art. In addition, opaque glasses were fused onto copper, and this greatly expanded the way enamels could be used as an art medium.